Instagram’s Latest Announcement Means Every Business Should Have an Account

In recent months, Instagram has taken tremendous advertorial strides in an effort to follow in the footsteps of its parent company, Facebook. Most recently, these business-centric updates included video ads, allowing both large and small companies to push even more interactive content to potential fans and customers.

That said, with over 200,000 advertisers pushing various products and services to upwards of 400 million active Instagram users, more of a marketing focus has been needed. Because of this, Instagram has finally begun rolling out business profiles for a select few brands.

Though few companies currently have access to their own business profiles, based on what’s been revealed thus far, new features include a “Contact” button, displayable access to maps and directions and the ability for businesses to categorize themselves according to specialty.

• Note: Each of the below business profile screenshots were first published by Taylor Loren of Later.com. As previously stated, more business accounts are likely to be made available for public access in the coming weeks and months.

The biggest difference between generic Instagram profiles and those specifically designed for businesses looking to expand their market reach is the inclusion of a “Contact” button next to the “Follow” button near the top of a profile page.

When clicked, users are given the option to get specific directions to a business using a map interface or send an email to the company in question. Interestingly enough, most foresaw Instagram only allowing brands to exchange Instagram messages with interested users, so this addition comes as a pleasant surprise.

Additionally, as previously made mention, just as businesses on Facebook are able to categorize themselves on their business profiles, so too can companies who’ve taken to Instagram. In the case of the above example, Makaia Carr’s Motivate Me account falls into the “Health/Wellness Website” category. Naturally, there will be options available for businesses of all types and functions.

Due to the fact that Instagram has yet to have given business profile access to more than a handful of business accounts, for the time being, it’s unlikely users see anything different in their feeds. However, as indicated by an official Instagram representative, that’s likely to change in the near future: “We are testing new business tools coming to Instagram in a few months.”

It’s hard to know for certain what Instagram’s “new business tools” will look like, but there’s a great deal of speculation that new features will allow businesses to track how well their posts are doing and purchase ads—all this from within the app’s main interface on a mobile device.

For the longest time, Facebook and Twitter have been positioning themselves as the most effective social media platforms for digital marketing specialists. Clearly, Instagram is making a push to become a part of that group, too.